How to Play Arcana — TFT Set 12: Magic N’ Mayhem
TFT Set 12 is just around the corner, and, in this guide, we’ll be covering everything you need to know about the new TFT trait: Arcana.
We’ll go over how Arcana works, the different Arcana Champions, good Augments, team comps, and more.
Explore all of the new Set 12 traits here!
How TFT Arcana Works
Arcana Trait Bonus
(2) Use the Arcana signifier item to choose a High Arcana champion. Arcana’s effect changes based on the High Arcana.
- Ahri: Fielding 3-star champions.
- AP + more per 3-star.
- Hecarim: Equipping items.
- Champions holding an item gain AD and Durability.
- Tahm Kench: Activating traits.
- Team gains bonus Health for each active trait.
- Xerath: Purchasing Charms.
- Abilities deal bonus true damage for every 3 Charms you’ve purchased this game.
- Emblem: Equipping Spatula items.
- Your team gains Damage Amplification Damage Amp plus more for each emblem equipped on your units. Tactician’s Crown counts twice.
Arcana has a similar vibe to Mecha-Prime from Set 8 since you select one unit to become the “High Arcana.” However, instead of transforming into a giant mech, Arcana provides a different trait bonus depending on your High Arcana.
This makes the trait extremely flexible, as you can choose a different bonus depending on what you want or what you can fit in. The trait also only requires two units, making it very easy to flex into a variety of team comps.
Keep in mind that having more Arcana units also increases the strength of the trait bonus.
Arcana Synergy
Here are all of the Arcana Champions and their other traits:
- Ahri (2G) – Scholar
- Hecarim (3G) – Bastion + Multistriker
- Tahm Kench (4G) – Vanguard
- Xerath (5G) – Ascendant
Considering there are only four Arcana units, there isn’t too much to flex into. Xerath’s other trait, Ascendant, is also Xerath’s exclusive trait. For all intents and purposes, Xerath only has the Arcana trait.
However, there’s still hope. Hecarim and Tahm Kench are both frontline units with the Bastion and Vanguard trait respectively. Ahri has the Scholar trait, which helps you flex into AP comps, and Hecarim’s third trait is Multistriker, flexing into AD comps.
The main struggle with Arcana is trying to fit two of them into one team. None of the units overlap traits, so you need the other units in the team comp to combine with them well.
TFT Arcana Champions
Ahri (2G) – Arcana + Scholar
[See Ahri’s Champion Page]
Ahri is a simple 2-cost backline AP damage dealer, and her Scholar trait helps her gain more mana. She’s definitely more of a selfish unit, but her Scholar trait can be useful in AP comps.
Her High Arcana trait grants the entire team bonus AP depending on how many 3-stars you have. This makes Ahri a potential reroll carry along with other low-cost units.
You’ll need one more Arcana to activate the trait, which won’t be too hard to do.
Hecarim (3G) – Arcana + Bastion + Multistriker
[See Hecarim’s Champion Page]
Up next, Hecarim has three traits, making him more flexible than most units. His Bastion trait makes him a solid frontline unit, and his Multistriker trait also gives him a home in other team comps.
His High Arcana trait bonus is almost like “Cybernetic” granting a buff to champions that are holding an item. The buff grants AD and damage reduction, which is perfect for Multistrikers, who are often melee carrys like Fiora.
Tahm Kench (4G) – Arcana + Vanguard
[See Tahm Kench’s Champion Page]
Tahm Kench is our next Arcana, and he’s a simple but powerful 4-cost tank. His ability provides strong CC, which makes him a great unit for lots of teams.
The Vanguard trait provides more frontline potential, synergizing with team comps that prefer to use Vanguards as their frontline.
Tahm’s High Arcana trait bonus provides bonus Health based on the number of active traits. This is reminiscent of Jazz/Stand United, which incentivizes you to play a team with many small traits rather than one big vertical.
This opens up more potential team comps, but at the end of the day, the meta will determine whether this bonus is effective or not.
Xerath (5G) – Arcana + Ascendant
[See Xerath’s Champion Page]
Lastly, we have Xerath, a powerful AP damage dealer with no real traits other than Arcana. His Ascendant trait makes it so Ascendant Charms appear in your shop, which are essentially more powerful Charms.
His High Arcana trait converts some of his ability damage into true damage, based on the number of Charms purchased. Xerath will likely be a strong carry for many late game boards, including Fast 9 team comps.
Best TFT Arcana Augments
Arcana Crest & Arcana Crown
Gain an Arcana Emblem and an Ahri.
As with almost every trait, getting an Emblem opens up powerful teambuilding options. This can be especially true for Arcana, since with an Emblem, you only need to field one Arcana unit of your choice.
From there, you can decide whether to have the High Arcana be the Emblem holder, or the other Arcana unit of your choosing. If you pick the Emblem holder, your team gains more damage based on the number of Emblems you have.
This is especially interesting if you’re playing game with lots of Emblems. You can pick Tahm Kench for lots of bonus Health (by activating more traits), or the Emblem holder for lots of extra damage.
Trait Tracker
The first time you end player combat with 7 different traits, gain 5 random emblems.
Trait Tracker is a very interesting High Stakes Augment. This Augment gives you 5 random emblems upon fulfilling the condition. If you happen to get an Arcana Emblem, you’re already halfway there.
All of the extra Emblems also play well with the High Arcana effects of Hecarim, Tahm Kench, and the Emblem.
High Arcana Hecarim buffs every item holder, Tahm Kench gives more Health based on active traits, and the Emblem effect gives more damage based on the amount of Emblems.
All of these bonuses are amplified by the 5 random Emblems you get from Trait Tracker. While this may make you dizzy trying to build a team comp with 5 random Emblems, it will no doubt be extremely fun.
TFT Arcana Team Comps
For this section, I’ll go over some team comps that utilize the Arcana trait. Keep in mind that metas shift quickly, and things will change as patches come and go.
To stay up to date on the best team comps, be sure to check our full TFT Tier List covering all the best comps.
Fast 9 Arcana
[Link to Full Guide]
This team comp is a Fast 8/9 team comp that uses the full Arcana trait to buff up the team. The comp deals almost all magic/ability damage, so dealing extra True Damage with High Arcana Xerath is great.
In general, Arcana is a very splashable trait, and it would be difficult to include every team comp that runs Arcana 2. This comp uses all 4 nicely, but there are other examples as well.
Ahri Vanguards
[Link to Full Guide]
This team comp is very similar to the one above, except instead of playing around Ryze and high-cost units, we reroll for Ahri and Galio.
The strength of this team comp is very patch dependent. If Ahri and Galio are strong enough to carry the mid game, this comp can transition into the late game with more threats.
If Ahri and Galio aren’t quite up to snuff, the comp won’t be able to stabilize and you’ll need to highroll in order to succeed.
Thanks for Reading! If you want to try and come up with your own team comps for Set 12, check out our Team Builder. For a full overview on the new set, check out our TFT Set 12 Reveal Page.
